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If you don't like the shape when you get there, shorten the bowl to more pleasing (to you) proportions.
I don't know what tools that you are using for shaping, but this could be as simple as holding it against your rough shaping wheel.
The only thing you can't do is put is put wood back.
DocAitch

A Jacobs drill chuck will probably thread onto that shaft, then you can use any of dozens of sanding discs made for a hand drill.( I got mine from Amazon 1/2"x20 less than $ 15 ) Generally (at least on modern motors), there is a diagram of the electrical connections on the information plate of ...

If you look at the thread "Frankenpipe" below, there is a mortise facer made from an oak dowel and an ebonite pilot, turned to fit the dowel and the "mortise" hole.(second photo). The counterbore recess was hogged out with a Dremel with a cylindrical bit, to get into the ball par...

I think that if you counter bore first and then drill a mortise by hand, it will very difficult to keep the axis of the counter bore and the mortise the same. In this case that malalignment would be hidden by the surrounding skirt of briar, but you would know it was there. Piloted counter bores are ...

Sandahl, Thank you for the reply. I don't disagree that this may be a garden path for young pipe makers who want to develop sale-able pipes, but there is another context- that of skills and technique development with limited resources. At present, my supply of briar is limited, and even if I had a p...

It looks like you might have a smokeable shop pipe on your hands. The grain orientation almost matches, but the grain comes off at different angles. If you'll notice, the forum here doesn't really have a section for shop pipes. I think that's because most people take pride in their good work and ne...

I would , as you suggest, turn the stem 180degrees and carefully reduce the stem and shank by hand. Premal's method with the file is the general direction I would go, although my first impulse would be to use a mechanical sander. Depends on how careful you are. I personally would also reduce the thi...

Hows this look? I wet the briar to bring out the grain, which is why I saved the bowl.

Here is the join line. Not bad for no counter sink.

I will post more when I get back to this next week.
DocAitch

I just dealt with a similar problem yesterday and today. I posted a bit of this on the general forum today and no body thought it was a good idea. Just remember, as a pipe maker, you get to smoke your mistakes, so go for it. I just was working on a bowl from a box of stuff from 40 years ago. for som...

Guys, I have the time, and this is a beautiful bowl. I also started this project 40 years ago and its been waiting for me. Since yesterday, I learned a couple of new techniques, made a new tool, got to practice with my stuff, and have been relearning some of my skills. I used epoxy by the way, only ...

Thank you for the welcome. Do you have a reason for this opinion? i.e. is it toxic or taste particularly bad? or does it fail with heat and moisture? My thought was that the epoxy would go on the briar tenon and the interface between bowl and shank, not inside the bowl. My alternatives are regular w...

Good afternoon. I have just joined this forum, but was a freehand pipe maker in the 1970s. I have been setting up shop and searched out a box of stummels that sat in the basement for 40 years. Among the treasures in box were a couple of unfinished projects which I had forgotten about. There is a bow...

Hello. I am an old pipemaker who is returning to the fold. I am 70 years old, retired from Emergency Medicine this past summer, and remain active with the Maryland Defense Force (State Guard) I made freehand pipes in Baltimore in the late 1960s and 70s. I worked out of Jay's Smoke Shop and made pipe...